


under a paper moon

by bunnyctzen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (he wasn't the one that abducted jeno tho), Alien Abduction, Found Family, M/M, alien!renjun, farmer!jeno, happy birthday jeno!!!!!!!!! i love u so much :(, most of the dreamies are aliens, warm tender fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23798473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnyctzen/pseuds/bunnyctzen
Summary: getting abducted by aliens really sucks, but jeno is determined to make the best of it.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 16
Kudos: 208
Collections: nono birthday bash





	under a paper moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [renjunethereal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjunethereal/gifts).



> ash my baby!!!! my absolute favourite human child!!!!! i love u so much and i tried my best to remember all the conversations we had abt alien noren to make this good for u so i still really hope u liked it!!! i veered mildly off course from ur prompt but u said that was ok so i rolled with it and tried my very best!!!!
> 
> i love u so So much and i was extremely happy i got to be your writer!!!!!
> 
> aliens !! gays !! lizardpeople !! 
> 
> happy birthday to lee jeno, world's absolute bestest boy ♡

time passes differently in space.

in fact, jeno has started to wonder if it stops altogether up here—he’s surely lost count of what counts as a day by now, in an endless expanse of star-spangled void.

at the very least, he can tell he’s far past due for some personal hygiene. his hair feels heavy with grime, and his teeth feel as fuzzy as his grip on reality.

has it been a week? a month?

he’s really starting to miss his dog.

a worry scratches at the back of his brain that feels like wondering if he left the stove on before he left the house.

like every night, miko had followed him out to the barn to tuck the cows in safely. if jeno _really_ strains his memory, he remembers her following him out into the field to go fetch his tractor for the night.

further than that, he feels a little nauseated trying to patch together any more.

bright lights, strange noises.

the works.

he hopes she made it to the next farm over—miko’s always been a smart girl, anyway. if she can herd cattle, she can find help.

jeno hopes she’ll still remember him, if he ever finds a way back home.

these days, if he can still call them that, his consciousness fades in and out. sometimes he feels it, when he’s poked and prodded.

sometimes, he opens his eyes to see strange creatures looking down on him. he’s almost grateful for whatever reality-altering concoction they’ve got running through his iv-drip.

it slows him down, and stops him from feeling pain. in fact, he hardly feels anything at all—he can barely move the tips of his fingers, and he certainly can’t place the temperature of the room.

a few times in passing, jeno wonders how long he’ll have to endure the experiments.

if he’ll even survive them at all.

often, only a few moments later, he falls back asleep.

jeno’s limbs ache.

today (he _really_ needs to stop saying that word), it’s a little hard to breathe.

everything is a little overwhelming.

he rises from his artificial slumber as drearily as ever, but when he finally starts coming to, he starts to notice that things are a little different.

first, he notes the silence.

second, darkness.

normally, the air is filled with mechanical whirring, and the clicking language these creatures use to communicate. his eyes strain against harsh lights, and they watch him.

this time, jeno feels a little _too_ aware of himself. his surroundings, and sensations.

his iv-drip has run dry.

before anything else, he tries to get used to the feeling of wiggling his fingers and toes. bends his knees and elbows.

he pays mind to his arm as he stretches for what feels like the first time in _years_.

whatever they’d been drugging him with had been enough to pin him down without need for restraints—this has to be a mistake.

something has gone wrong.

jeno slowly steadies himself, and pulls himself up into a seated position on the metal slab he’s been lain on.

silence.

the room looks to have been abandoned in haste. medical supplies are strewn over the floor. shattered glass, sharp tools.

he becomes increasingly more aware of the fact that he’s bare-footed as his legs dangle over the side of the examination table.

jeno’s attention falls to the iv in his arm again, and his fingernails start to work at the adhesive that holds the needle steady under his skin.

god, this is the _worst_.

he finally gets a solid grip on the tape, peels it off gently, and slides the needle out. when blood starts to rush to the surface of his skin, jeno’s brain finally kicks in.

he carefully pads along the floor, mindful of obstacles, to a bin full of dressings.

he’s quick to sort through them and press gauze to the wound—tries his best to remember everything he’s ever learned about first aid, even though his head is spinning from the sudden rush of being up on his feet.

haphazardly taped up, next, jeno looks for an exit.

this is stupid. absolutely idiotic.

he could get caught, and punished.

the reality that this could be his _only_ chance to escape is enough to motivate him to try.

 _fuck_ , his legs feel weak. his mouth is dry, and his bones ache, but he creeps his way toward the closest door.

he grips the handle, and breathes deeply.

it’s now or never.

heavy metal creaks on old hinges, and jeno is met with more blackness.

a red light flashes at the end of the hallway, and in the distance, he hears an alarm sounding.

 _only_ the alarm.

no accompanying chaos.

he continues to pad down the hallway, hands against the wall, in search of an escape point.

he _has_ to get out of here.

jeno runs into more empty hallways, each one as abandoned as the last. they seem to stretch on endlessly, and his burst of energy is starting to run dry.

his heart races, but his knees begin to buckle under him. the world around him keeps spinning.

finally, jeno turns a corner that delivers promise. hope. _salvation_.

the written language he sees around the ship is certainly not human-made, but jeno knows an escape pod when he sees one.

all its neighbouring chambers are empty, as if the occupants of the ship bailed some time ago, and left jeno for dead.

he tries not to focus on anything except the opportunity he’s been presented with.

jeno uses the last dregs of his energy to haul himself into the thing, and shut its doors behind him. straps himself into the seat, and tries to figure out his next steps.

the control panel in the pod is foreign, but jeno presses the glowing options presented to him with hope, and a red button beside the keys.

red buttons, at least, are universal.

hopefully this one is the helpful kind.

jeno is getting pretty tired of waking up in strange places.

of having to search his memory for the events that caused him to end up in his new location, and assessing his body for injuries.

this time, he’s surrounded by blinding light again. he groans, and rubs his eyes.

ah.

the escape pod.

something tells jeno he _hasn’t_ landed back on earth. in fact, he’s presented with a few clues.

for starters, that would be nothing short of a miracle. secondly, the sky is pink.

also, someone most certainly _not_ human is tapping on the glass of his pod.

maybe _that’s_ why he’s awake.

jeno takes a second to study the stranger—once his eyes start to adjust, he notes pearly lilac scales. eyes that blink sideways. sharp teeth.

at the very least, the creature looks at jeno with concern.

good. perhaps he _won’t_ end up as someone’s dinner.

jeno sits up in his seat, and unbuckles himself from the series of protective straps that hold him to it.

the creature’s tail flicks curiously.

there’s an extremely likely chance that as soon as jeno opens the pod he’ll suffocate or explode due to atmospheric pressure or lack of oxygen, but honestly, his muscles feel a little too stiff to consider staying put a valid option anymore.

thus, he grabs the handle of the door, and with a weighted yank, opens it to the outside world.

jeno is so, _so_ lucky that when he takes a deep breath, he’s met with clean, humid air.

oxygen. humanoids. good signs.

“…hello?”

the creature jumps in surprise.

perhaps lizards don’t speak korean.

jeno has another moment to study him.

he supposes he can use the word alien, even if he’s the invader. he’s sure he’ll get another name to call this species by, anyway.

aside from the obvious, jeno is comforted to find the alien not too anatomically different from himself. his face bears human-like features—in fact, jeno may go as far as to describe him as beautiful, in his own charming, reptilian way.

soft features, sharp eyes.

the alien offers jeno a hesitant smile.

“i am… jeno.” 

jeno points at himself.

“…jeno.” the alien answers with surprising clarity. 

maybe this won’t be so hard after all.

“you are?”

this time, he points at the stranger.

the alien points at himself, this time.

“…renjun.”

jeno lets out a sigh of relief. an accessible name. those are sounds he knows how to make.

this time, jeno tries it out.

“renjun.” 

_renjun_. familiar. comforting. 

the alien finally has a name.

“where am i, renjun?”

renjun blinks.

“do you understand me?”

his face remains blank.

of course. jeno thinks he should start learning that high hopes will land him nowhere.

renjun sticks a hand in front of him, and gestures for jeno to take it.

his touch, unsurprisingly, is cold. he’s a reptile, after all. if this planet is close enough to earth that the tropical foliage looks vaguely familiar and it’s filled with oxygen, the same rules probably apply.

once jeno is properly out of his pod, however, renjun continues to hold onto his hand.

“jeno.”

renjun tugs his arm like he’s meant to follow, and jeno supposes he has few other options.

at least the mossy underbrush is gentle on his feet.

in what jeno feels like he can safely call the next few hours, renjun silently acts as a good host.

he directs jeno to his version of a bath (which is genuinely pretty similar, save for the water it’s filled with coming out of the taps green), and hands him fresh clothes to change into.

grinds up herbs, and presses them into a few wounds jeno has collected along his journey here.

when renjun speaks, it’s unlike anything jeno has ever heard. it’s tonal in nature, but it sounds a little like the chattering of squirrels.

jeno recognizes some sounds, and others are absolutely baffling.

he’s served a variety of vaguely threatening looking vegetables, and something spiky that looks like it _could_ be meat.

still, jeno isn’t one to bite the hand that quite literally feeds him. instead, he accepts renjun’s help, and listens to the birds in the trees outside. 

cool. 

he can deal with this. 

there’s a very good chance that this could be his new way of living now, anyway. he supposes he’ll have to get used to it all, and learn their strange squirrel language. 

he could be faring far worse than he currently is, staying in an alien airbnb with full amenities. 

jeno is lucky to even be alive.

the day isn’t quite over when company arrives at renjun’s doorstep.

lizards still keep the courtesy of knocking before they enter, which jeno finds pretty comforting. a humanoid is a humanoid.

renjun’s friend bears blue scales, and far more boyish features.

he stares at jeno with fascination.

the two chatter for a little while as jeno sips his strange green water, until finally, renjun calls his name.

“jeno.”

renjun points at his friend.

“mark.”

there's a risk of embarrassment if he's wrong _twice_ about communication, but jeno figures he'll give it one more shot.

mark is a _very_ earthlike name.

“it’s nice to meet you, mark.”

mark’s eyes widen.

“ _human_!”

jeno promptly chokes on his aforementioned drink.

human.

 _he’s_ human. that’s _him_.

that’s _jeno’s_ language.

he’s quick to take a seat at the table in front of jeno.

“my… mother. earth. born.”

“your mother is human?”

mark nods excitedly.

oh, thank _god_. this has to be some kind of a miracle.

given the hand jeno’s been dealt, what with the alien abduction and experiments and crash-landing on a strange planet and everything, he thinks he’s due for a bit of luck on his side.

this is _fantastic_ news.

“your mother. is she here? is she on this planet?”

mark shakes his head.

“earth.”

“do you know how she got back there?”

again, mark shakes his head.

jeno’s luck was due for a kick in the gut. he takes two steps forward, and falls four back.

this time, renjun speaks to mark.

their conversation goes on for a good few moments while jeno awkwardly sips his water, and tries to remind himself that this is both very real and actually happening right now.

“why… tynsei?”

“tynsei?” jeno repeats.

“tynsei… earth. drosei. human.”

mark gestures between them to make his point.

“this planet is called tynsei?”

mark nods.

“…why?” mark prods again. 

“i didn’t really _mean_ to come here. i was abducted, and i guess this is the closest planet to wherever they took me.”

“ab...duct...ed?”

“someone took me away from my home.”

this seems to be enough to unsettle mark. he quickly parrots this information back to an equally concerned looking renjun. 

it isn’t necessarily comforting that their expressions look so grave. 

jeno comes to realize that if there is indeed a way out of this mess, he’s gonna have to work pretty hard to find it.

“tynsei… jeno home?” mark offers carefully.

“for now, i guess so.”

in the passing week, life on tynsei starts to make a little more sense to jeno.

he’s come to appreciate the way the strange red sun feels on his skin, and he really can’t complain about the atmosphere.

jeno tries to think of this entire experience as a vacation, rather than a trap—it’s one he’ll be able to come home from, and remember fondly.

he _will_ find a way.

in the meantime, however, he does his best to adapt to his surroundings.

he holds to mark like a lifeline—they visit with each other almost every day, just so jeno can feel some semblance of comfort and familiarity.

mark acts as a translator between jeno and the rest of the drosei, and works tirelessly to teach jeno everything he can think of. the dialect they speak, cultural customs, and just about everything in between.

jeno struggles to even recreate the sounds required to speak zgah, but he supposes any progress is still a step in the right direction.

even renjun makes an effort to learn what basics of korean jeno is able to teach him, with mark between them to assist when needed.

overall, jeno thinks things could be far worse.

he has a roof to sleep under (renjun is insistent that jeno is more than welcome to stay as long as he needs), tentative new friends (a new addition is jaemin, who bears a smile full of cheer and a terrifying amount of teeth), and enough surprisingly delicious (but very hazardous looking) food to eat.

the more jeno learns, the more independent he feels. he isn’t stupid enough to assume he’ll be getting out of here for quite some time, so he really puts all of his effort into trying to lessen the burdens of his hosts, and fit in.

he’s been particularly happy to help renjun tend to his garden out in the back—the familiarity of tending to crops, no matter how small, feels extremely grounding.

in fact, jeno helps in all ways he can to repay renjun for his kindness. he tidies up around the house, and tries his hand at helping in the kitchen.

things stay fairly quiet between the two of them, with their limited communication. aside from _yes_ , _no_ , _please_ , and _thank you_ , the two get by with pointing, vague gesturing, and expressions.

it’s hard to not be a little curious about renjun, the more time jeno spends with him.

whenever mark is present, he uses up all of their translating time to help jeno adjust to his new way of living. jeno wouldn’t really feel right asking mark to be a mouthpiece so the two of them can have a conversation, anyway.

thus, he remains at a standstill.

jeno assumes renjun disappears every day to attend work—jeno uses this time to explore around their neighbourhood, and test out his zgah on the locals. he stands out clearly as a foreigner, with human skin and no tail, so at least people are generally pretty patient and forgiving.

around the time the red sun starts to set, jeno returns back to renjun’s home, and tries to set up some kind of a dinner for him to return to.

technology is a little different on tynsei, so he often watches renjun do handicrafts and do work around the house to pass the time once he’s home for the night. the drosei mainly seem to live off of the land—screens and devices don’t exist here, but their architecture is ornate, and the streets are lined with fully structured businesses.

everything in renjun’s home appears to be hand-made, and jeno often finds him whittling tools, or performing whatever the drosei equivalent of knitting is.

another notable thing about the drosei is how social a species they are, even without the presence of phones to communicate.

in fact, jeno hasn’t noticed a single instance of anyone travelling on their own when he’s out observing the drosei on the streets.

renjun has company over whenever he can, and he appears fairly comfortable in jeno’s presence.

sometimes, though, jeno wonders why renjun lives alone.

he’s been to mark’s house, where jaemin also lives, along with two others. all of renjun’s neighbours come in pairs or threes.

still, though renjun has a guest bedroom, it shows no signs of use. it’s something that seems… fairly awkward to approach, even if jeno is curious.

he resigns to figure renjun out eventually, even if it takes some time.

jeno certainly has enough of it to spare.

some few weeks later, jeno gets his answer.

not to like, a how to build a spacecraft and return to earth kind of answer, but a useful one nonetheless.

a renjun answer.

as social creatures, drosei pair with one another for life. mark has found his pairing with jaemin, and their rather loud roommates jisung and chenle have done the same.

it certainly makes sense, if jeno thinks about it, that renjun was so immediately comfortable with his presence around the house.

once, mark mentioned that renjun was far lonelier before he found jeno. that he’s happier now, and full of life.

jeno certainly understands loneliness.

it was just him and miko, back at the farm. most of jeno’s family lives in the city, so he spent the majority of his time alone, short of the odd visit to donghyuck’s corn farm down the road.

it’s certainly comforting to have so many people around him now, and jeno is more than happy for the in-home companionship renjun provides.

even though renjun hasn’t paired, jeno tries to be a warm presence for him to rely on.

jeno thinks it’s been about two months since he landed on tynsei, but easily three could’ve passed.

he and mark have made a breakthrough, finally, on the whole returning to earth thing.

it’s something that’ll take some time to work out, and they’re missing a lot of the necessary resources to do it, but jeno has come to realize that the prospect of returning to earth isn’t as exciting as he expected it to be. he isn’t necessarily… _motivated_ to find a solution.

the dairy farm pales in comparison to the life jeno has made here on tynsei, if he really thinks about it.

sure, life is a little harder here, and he has to learn an entire new language and adjust to the culture shock, but jeno has never really had a close group of friends before.

language barriers don’t mean much when other forms of communication exist, and he’s learned that most forms of entertainment are pretty universal.

lately, in fact, he’s been getting renjun to open up a little more. when the sun sets and the sky is full of more stars than jeno could ever imagine seeing on earth, renjun tells him about them.

they sit out on renjun’s back porch, with cups of a warm beverage that jeno can never seem to remember the name of, and learn little things about each other.

sometimes jeno’s zgah fails him, and renjun switches to semi-broken korean to make jeno feel more comfortable.

on particularly late nights, curled up on the couch, renjun falls asleep halfway through a story about jeno’s childhood. jeno finds the quilt that renjun patiently helped him patch together, and covers him with it before he heads back to his room to sleep.

jeno thinks about his empty house back on earth sometimes, and wonders if he could handle being alone again.

one late night, lying out on the grass beneath the stars, jeno feels brave enough to ask renjun the question he’s been sitting on.

“is there a reason you aren’t paired?”

a moment of silence lasts for a few beats.

“right… person. never found one. waiting.”

jeno supposes that makes sense.

spending an entire lifetime with one single person is a fairly big decision, and it isn’t one that comes lightly.

jeno isn’t quite sure of how to respond, so he tries to remember the names of the constellations renjun taught him.

“i know now.”

jeno looks at renjun with confusion.

“what do you know?”

“my person. i know. find now.”

two days later, at the end of a studying session, mark tells jeno that his father figured out a way to get him back home to earth.

jeno sits in silence for a minute to consider it.

he scribbles on his notepad, and takes a few deep breaths.

 _home_.

when he looks up, the two pairs of eyes that meet his own brew with unspoken emotion.

jeno knows, finally, what his decision is.

“you can tell him that… i’m not really interested anymore.”

this time, jeno catches renjun’s hopeful gaze.

he flashes him a warm smile—one that hopefully bears his heart.

“tynsei is home, now.”

**Author's Note:**

> (don't worry miko is fine she's staying with hyuck back on earth and they're best friends now)
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/xingowo) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/xingowo) ♡


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